NAVY, U. 8., OPERATIONS OF. 



631 



U. S. steamer Hartford on the 3d of February, 

 to assume the duties of flag-officer of the "\Vr-t- 

 em Gulf blockading squadron. In addition to 

 the ordinary duties of the blockade, he was 

 specially charged with the reduction of the de- 

 fences guarding the approaches to New Orleans. 

 "There will be attached to your squadron," 

 said the Secretary of the Navy in his letter of 

 instructions, "a fleet of bomb vessels, and 

 armed steamers enough to manage them, all 

 under command of Commander D. D. Porter, 

 who will be directed to report to you. * * * 

 "When these formidable mortars arrive, and you 

 are completely ready, you will collect such 

 vessels as can be spared from the blockade and 

 proceed up the Mississippi river, and reduce 

 the defences which guard the approaches to 

 New Orleans, when you will appear off that 

 city and take possession of it under the guns 

 of your squadron, and hoist the American flag 

 therein, keeping possession until troops can be 

 sent to you. If the Mississippi expedition from 

 Cairo shall not have descended the river, you 

 will take advantage of the panic to push a 

 strong force up the river to take all their de- 

 fences in the rear." 



Captain Farragut arrived at Ship Island on 

 the 20th, having been detained for some time 

 at Key West, and immediately began to or- 

 ganize his squadron for the important duty 

 which had been assigned to him. There are 

 two routes by which New Orleans may be ap- 

 proached by water, one through Lake Borgne 

 and Lake Pontchartrain, and the other directly 

 up the Mississippi river; but the former, on 

 account of the shallowness of the water, is 

 impracticable for any but vessels of very light 

 draft. The Confederates had consequently de- 

 voted their labors chiefly to the fortification of 

 the Mississippi. Some 75 miles below the city, 

 and about 25 miles from the " passes " or 

 mouths of the river, they had possession of two 

 strong works constructed many years before by 

 the U. S. Government, Fort St. Philip on the 

 left, or N. bank, and Fort Jackson on the right. 

 Their united armament was 126 guns, many of 

 them of the very largest caliber. Starting op- 

 posite Fort Jackson and extending to a point a 

 quarter of a mile below Fort St. Philip, a stout 

 chain cable was stretched across the stream 

 (here TOO yards wide), supported by a raft of 

 logs and 8 hulks securely moored. Adjoining 

 Fort Jackson was a water battery. Under 

 cover of the forts was a fleet of 13 gunboats, 

 the powerful iron-clad battery Louisiana, and 

 the iron-clad ram Manassas. the naval forces 

 being commanded by Commodore G. N. Hol- 

 lins. Between New Orleans and the forts sev- 

 eral earthworks, well armed, commanded the 

 channel. " Our only fear," said the press of 

 New Orleans of April 5, "is that the North- 

 ern invaders may not appear. We have made 

 such extensive preparations to receive them 

 that it were vexatious if their invincible armada 

 escapes the fate we have in store for it." 



To reduce these formidable defences, Captain 



Farragut was able to collect the following 

 sels : steam sloops Hartford, 24 guns (flag ship), 

 Richmond, 26, Pensacola, 24, Brooklyn, 24, 

 Mississippi, 12, Iroquois, 9, Oneida, 9, sailing 

 sloop of war Portsmouth, 17, gunboats Varuna, 

 12, Cayuga, 6, and Winona, Katahdin, Itasca, 

 Kineo, Wissahickon, Pinola, Kennebeck, and 

 Sciota, 4 each. The frigate Colorado, 48, 

 could not pass over the bar, and the entrance 

 of some of the other large ships was only ef- 

 fected with the expenditure of much time and 

 labor. The mortar fleet comprised 20 schoon- 

 ers, each mounting one large mortar and 2 

 small guns. They were accompanied by the 

 steamers Harriet Lane, 4, the flag ship of Com- 

 mander Porter, Miami, 7, Westfield 6, Clifton, 

 6, and Owasco, 5. Some of these were merely 

 armed tugs, intended principally to serve the 

 purpose of towing the bomb vessels into posi- 

 tion. Including the coast-survey steamer Sa- 

 chem, the number of vessels under Captain 

 Farragut's command was therefore 46, and 

 their aggregate armament, counting boat how- 

 itzers placed in the main tops, was about 300 

 guns and mortars. There were no iron-clads 

 in the fleet. 



Nearly three weeks were consumed in get- 

 ting all the ships of the squadron over the bars 

 at the mouths of the Mississippi. Captain 

 Farragut found the depth considerably less 

 than it had been laid down on the official maps ; 

 no doubt for the reason that the daily passing 

 of large ships, before the port was blockaded, 

 had kept the channel open. On the 28th of 

 March Fleet Captain H. H. Bell made a recon- 

 noissance with two gunboats from the head of 

 the passes up toward the forts. He found the 

 left bank quite clear of trees and bushes, but 

 on the west side a thick wood extended about 

 4 miles below Fort Jackson. By the 8th of 

 April the Mississippi and Pensacola were over 

 the bar, and the mortar boats were moving up 

 toward their appointed stations. On the 13th 

 a detachment from the coast survey party set 

 out under protection of the Owasco, and spent 

 3 days in making a minute boat survey of the 

 river and banks, much of the time under fire, 

 and marking the positions which the mortar 

 vessels were to occupy. On the 18th two di- 

 visions of Commander Porter's flotilla were 

 moored under the lee of the wood on the right 

 bank of the river, screened from observation 

 by the thick growth of trees interwoven with 

 vines ; the masts and rigging were dressed off 

 with bushes, which were renewed as often as 

 they were blown away. The head vessel was 

 2,850 yards from Fort Jackson and 3,680 from 

 Fort St. Philip. The remaining division, com- 

 posed of 6 vessels, was stationed under the 

 opposite bank, the nearest being 3,680 yards 

 from Fort Jackson. There was nothing on 

 this side to screen them from observation, but 

 their hulls were covered with reeds and wil- 

 lows. 



The bombardment opened on the 18th, the 

 mortar vessels taking the lead, and the gunboats 



